Friends Don’t Let Friends Build Websites

There are a lot of decisions business owners have to make about where to spend money and where to cut back. Sometimes it’s a good idea to ask someone you know to help you save a little money. Building your website is not one of those times. Having someone’s daughter/nephew/cousin build your website is almost always a mistake, unless the daughter/nephew/cousin is a professional web developer.

Your website is a wise investment because it is essentially your storefront in the digital world. 84.3% of people will check a business’s website before visiting the actual business or purchasing its products or services. That first impression is critical, and in web development you usually get the quality you pay for. Not only that, but website design is a combination of technical skills, graphic design, copywriting and SEO skills.

So, does that daughter/nephew/cousin have the necessary training to design and develop your website correctly, and awesomely? Here are five ways to tell.

1. Nitty Gritty Details Matter. All of the I’s have to be dotted and T’s crossed. Make sure you know who will own the text, images and even the website address when your project is complete. How will you access and update your website? Does your designer need to handle updates or can you make those changes on your own? Is the website built on a user-friendly platform? Not owning the intellectual property or having the ability to make simple edits can dramatically increase the cost of a website over its lifetime.

3. Technical Knowledge. Another part of the strategy that separates “free help” from the experts is knowing how to navigate SEO algorithms. Your positioning on search engine result pages (think Google search results) is based entirely on algorithms, and these are constantly changing. If your website needs to be in front of individuals searching for your products and services, you need to make sure the person creating it knows the latest techniques to help you make that happen.

4. Website Security Experience. Once a website is live, it could be exposed to security risks like hackers or viruses. With proper maintenance and tools, these threats can be limited. It’s important to that the person who builds your site knows the proper security protocols to put into place and will update and monitor your sites for any attacks in the future.

5. Mobile Friendly. There’s no way around it any more – your website has to be mobile friendly. Google has declared that non-mobile friendly websites won’t be showing up in searches, which is reason enough to have a responsive site. Make sure your site will display correctly on any device that access it, from a smart phone to a tablet, from laptops to desktops. This technology is called responsive design, and it’s pretty much non-negotiable.

The long and the short of it is this — your friend’s daughter/nephew/cousin probably doesn’t have the necessary expertise in all areas discussed above. At aJuxt Media Group, we love digital marketing. We excel at digital marketing. We have specialists and teams who are trained and passionate about providing businesses with the best digital marketing strategies available. And we do it all to fit within your budget. Contact aJuxt today and let us maximize the digital marketing world for your business!